License To Shill [Paul O'Brien on Ninth Art]
Good stuff. If "Publishing is a business unit we often view as the R&D function of Marvel [for licensing]" doesn't depress the comic book lover in you, there's more: how does that statement compute with Marvel not actually doing any R&D creating new characters?

Marvel March 02004 month-to-month [Paul O'Brien on Pulse]
On third-tier character She-Hulk's 34K debut: "Swift decline and cancellation inside of a year is almost invariably the result." What numbers would a Doctor Strange book start with nowadays?

GraphicSmashBox: You may notice a new GraphicSmash module-type thingie currently placed prominently on the front page of this website.

For a while, Neilalien's been looking for a way to support the webcomics model- and send some of his readers over to GraphicSmash to enjoy the superhero and many-varied action webcomics, and creators, found there. Free time to do lots of reviews isn't materializing- and hey, Neilalien's muse is of a different creative variety than a lot of review blabbity.

What Neilalien did: After learning that GraphicSmash has an RSS feed now, he went to Feedroll to format it for his site and pare it down to the two newest items, links changing daily. Purty it up, and voila.

So please, if an image, title or creator name catches your eye, hopefully you'll be moved to do the clickity. If you find yourself consistently enjoying where the clickity takes you, consider becoming a subscriber. (BTW, Neilalien doesn't get a cut.) That is all.

Stormwatch's Amazon Activism [Newsarama]
Folks are showing their overwhelming support by Amazon-preordering the cancelled third trade. Wright's got a lot here about comic book advertising (e.g., a lot of online folks not even knowing the books existed), waiting-for-the-trade, etc.

Valentino discusses his departure from Image [Newsarama]
'Only X, Spider, Super and Bat' is not a healthy paradigm. Sorry to hear about the osteoarthritis- hopefully it won't get too much in the way of his creative pursuits. It sucks when health concerns must affect one's decisions.

Ditko discussed in this thread [TCJ Message Board]
Deconstructing how a person with a strong sense of right and wrong who doesn't waste his time with the press can get an 'oversensitive crackpot recluse' rap.

"Jack will probably claim he does that, too" [Comics Commentary]
Examining one of the rare times Stan Lee slipped out of diplomacy mode.

People piling into comic book shops and bookstores looking for Hellboy TPBs are met with bare shelves
Damn, can't we do anything right? Let the finger-pointing begin. Oh well. Demand was unexpected, and it's not like Dark Horse was going to print a ton beforehand and take on the risk of all that inventory if the movie bombed/didn't generate interest. What a bummer if potential new customers are lost.
Updates:Retailer tried to plan ahead, still got swamped [Progressive Ruin]
You Can't Fault Dark Horse and Diamond (for not taking inventory-financial risk, as Neilalien said) [ICv2]

Great feature: Chick Check for This Week's Marvels [Cognitive Dissonance]
Uber-comics-reviewer Johanna Draper Carlson is blogging! It strikes Neilalien that a writer or artist slot should count more than an assistant editor slot? Not to belittle anyone's assistant editor role, or turn Chick Check into a math chore.

Is it really possible that the majority of comic book readers had not heard that the recently cancelled Wildstorm books were good books, or didn't know that those books even existed?

The Intermittent suspects No- that it's not a failure of advertising/fanboy 'ignorance' in this day-and-age of comics blogospheres, magazines, movies, news websites (as opposed to the old days of newsstand randomness)- it's fanboy 'attitude', the direct market has spoken and decided that Stormwatch isn't that good after all, or it's not what they want.

Is the basic problem that the current comic book reading population is mostly resistant/averse to a book that's non-Big-Two, non-spandex, non-superhero-icon, black-and-white, etc.- or is it that the population doesn't know enough about the existence of these other books to buy them?

Ringwood responds that it is primarily a lack of advertising and knowledge among comic fans, not preference. Most of comicdom isn't tapped into all the comics news, interviews, Previews, etc. as much as the vocal fanboy/snob-opposing-continuum-tips online/blogosphere community is- and that said community is just a tiny minority (which is so true- and so hard to remember once you're inside). Also that people may want more out of comics, but they are limited by many factors (time, money, patience, and/or easy/available service to get more).

Eat More People seconds, adding that most direct market stores don't stock the non-Big-Two stuff anyway for people to get exposed to something else.

"Jeff" comments for a piece of the fan attitude side, that most people remaining in comicdom today are in it for nostalgia warm-fuzzies, they're not seeking out something new. Which is why Supes Bats Spidey X dominate.

Neilalien suspects the answer is mostly, Yes, they don't know. It's a combination of both/many factors (as things usually are). The micropopulation of remaining direct market consumers might just be as averse to change and The New and non-spandex as the snobs charge (hey, but it wouldn't be their fault if they're the only population left, and they're under no obligation to be change-phyllic). But a failure of advertising is definitely a primary factor. People just don't know the wide range of books out there. It's why we all pimp as we do here online, right? On a fundamental level, comic books are only advertised and marketed to the direct market store owner. If they get marketed at all. What kind of support and outreach did these books get? It's like the direct market store owner is the publishers' consumer, not the actual consumer. Most casual readers already in comicdom, that big bell-curve centrist middle, don't know about a wide range of non-Big-Two books, they don't read Previews or Wizard or news websites or blogs- and if they were curious, after reading an interview, or via word of mouth, they'd probably have to go through the work of special ordering them, and maybe months in advance sight-unseen! Insanity! And there's zero advertising for comics to 'outsiders', to people who aren't reading them already, it's not like there's TV commercials or anything for generating any totally new blood for American comics of any kind (Marvel's movies haven't lead to higher comics sales).

Neat essay: Let's replace "continuity" with "awareness of tradition", "retcon" with "reinterpretation" [Motime Like The Present]
Speaking out against both ends of the spectrum: the reverence camp, and the snob attacker/straw-man builder re: the anti-change info-crutch secret-handshake fanboy. Good words to facilitate a perception change.

Comics companies geared towards Iconic Franchises don't advertise/promote new 'untested' characters, lines, imprints, etc. well [Permanent Damage]
Also some great stuff about comic book cancellations- and word-of-mouth, getting a retailer interested- and writing supportive letters to publishers before a book gets cancelled, instead of writing letters to creators or after a cancellation announcement. Lamenting the end of letters pages too.

John Romita Jr. talks up Gray Area [Pulse]
Solid artist and storyteller. One of the nicest guys in the biz. Creator-owned book at Image. Supernatural themes. And All-Class Klaus Janson inks! Neilalien is there.

The direct market has already crossed the point of no return [The Hurting via Fanboy Rampage]
Bad combo: Not enough readers to support new midlist stuff like Wildstorm, too many readers who demand hardcore kowtowing to the old. (Neilalien thinks that's the point to tease out of this Millennium-retard text, anyway.)

What's wrong with work-for-hire? The Sistine Chapel was work-for-hire! [Motime]

Put it on the radar: Convincing gushing for Ex Machina [Comics.212.net by way of Fanboy Rampage]
A relevant superhero book with Tony Harris (Dr. Strange: Flight of Bones (the first two issues anyway (sigh))) art. "Congratulations to all involved on creating something new."

Future Comics now Future Entertainment [ICv2]
Deathmask TPB preview [Newsarama]
Neilalien's been rooting for these wily veterans since they started. He likes how they seem to be trying different things marketwise. Not distributing through Diamond. TPB only. Now those TPB's are manga formatted. Unfortunately, Neilalien gave Deathmask a three-issue test, and Future doesn't seem to be trying anything different yet re: content.

Bendis interviewed: Sounds like the Ultimate Dr. Strange from Ultimate Team-Up will be appearing in Ultimate Spider-Man [Silver Bullet]
Perhaps Bendis misspoke when he called Ult Doc a villain. Or did he? Special thanks to Thought Balloons for the FYI.

To DC suits, 'mature reader superheroes' means more sex and violence- just throw in a scene of a hooker getting beat up [Gutters on Wildcats cancellation]
Plus: The shooting script for Sin City is a photocopy of the comic! Cameras are lined up to match panel angles. Wow.

When Bad Things Happen To Good Books [Comics Pimp]
The Pimp teaches how to kick comic market ass through advertising, trade dress and market penetration.

Ed Brubaker reassures us Sleeper fans in light of other Wildstorm Universe cancellations [Newsarama]
Sounds like Sleeper's trade sales are much better than the other books', which gives some protection. Still- push and pimp Sleeper if you enjoy it! In fact, remember to push and pimp for any book you enjoy these days. Because:

The fact that this industry couldn't support a book like [Wildcats] or Stormwatch, says a lot about what's wrong with the Direct Market right now. This backwards way of putting out material, which has devolved into a system where a majority of stores don't carry anything for the shelves that isn't in the top 20 or 30 and every other book must be special-ordered by the customer is simply killing the diversity in this field. No matter how much buzz a book generates, if a fan can't find it on the shelf when he looks for it, it may as well not exist.

Neilalien-Approved Reviews & Purchases

She-Hulk #2 [Quick Critiques]
A couple months ago, Neilalien was dreading having to buy this book for the Doctor Strange appearance. C'mon- She-Hulk? Well, this title is two-for-two so far, and definitely on the pull list now. Great stuff! Interesting Jennifer Walters identity issues. The superhero law stuff is fun, and created out of obvious love. #2 has a nice U-turn of the classic origin story. The art is crisp. And Awesome Andy rocks.

As for Doc, it's a minor cameo (sigh). The eyeglasses are a cute fatherly touch- but people, the man is not aging, his eyesight is not getting worse. Neilalien was a little wary about what Doc was doing at the law firm- but Slott had the good sense to give him a smarter motive. Now don't tell us Doc is just going to let that guy get gunned down...

Smax #5 [Johnny Bacardi] [Snap Judgments]
Fairy tales meet Top 10, by Alan Moore. A very satisfying mini-series- if the yearning for more Top 10 could be satisfied...

Wanted #3 [Ringwood]
Hannibal: "This is wrong, wrong wrong wrong. And wonderful. Raiding alternate universes for a gift for a friend. Internecine plotting and murders. Really smart storytelling that leaves tons of questions and never telegraphs the plot points. This is good stuff. I am starting to question, "Why am I not buying this?" Why indeed.

Invincible #9 [CHUD] [Snap Judgments]
If you are a reader of this website, you need to be a reader of Invincible. That's just about the biggest compliment Neilalien's got.

Amazing Spider-Man #506 [Silver Bullet Comic Books]
Ezekiel has returned, is he good guy or bad?, the spider-totem stuff is back, the recent mystical stuff's getting tied in a nice little bow, and a big bad threat is on the way. So Neilalien's sticking around. The meme that JMS has diluted his run on this book of late with feel-good filler stories has gotten a lot of traction [GamersCircle review of #505].

Neilalien had a fun time at Hellboy. But then someone had to think too much and remind him of all the plot elements that went nowhere and ruin the pleasant memory of the film. So much for blissful ignorance. Look what you done, Sean! (Must be getting Neilalien back for this.)

The Punisher previews look awful! Might we have our first official Marvel dud of the modern age on our hands? Although, it only took $34 million to make, so it doesn't have to do that well to make a profit. But The Eat Me Beat Me Lady is in it! Eh, Neilalien will probably catch it next weekend- this weekend's flick will be Kill Bill Vol. 2.

Icon: Marvel editorial/publishing fought for creator-owned stuff against Avi Arad who sees it as money down the drain; Bendis tipped the scales; imprint probably an exclusive/invitation-only club- a perk for work-for-hire, not a creator-rights thing [Lying In The Gutters]
Also via LITG: Confirmed: Marvel aiming for younger readers, toning books down, 'playing it safe' [Chuck Austen interview at Silver Bullet]

Icon: Huge analysis [Pipeline]
Marvel gets the creator-owned line it wanted; keeps its creators like Bendis happy; Powers gets bigger spotlight; the impact to Image; "reasons for not buying an Image comic"; readers and retailers get big tsk tsk for ordering a book more just because it's with Marvel; direct market broken.

02004 Eisner Award nominees announced [Comic Book Resources]
Sleeper, Invincible, The Walking Dead and El Cazador are all Best New Series noms, so maybe Neilalien is doing something right with his reading list nowadays? Eh, not that he needs the Eisners to validate his pull list. He should probably add another Best New Series nominee The Losers to his pile.

Retailer rant about playing second-fiddle to the big player stores [ICv2]
Interesting item re: manga saviorship of the direct market?: "[M]y sales of manga trades has dwindled to nothing since Barnes & Noble and Borders gets them three weeks before I do."
Opposing views; casual readers vs. hobbyists and getting the former to become the latter, etc.:
The mass market is a retail partner of the comic book shop [ICv2]
Torsten Adair of Barnes & Noble on what comic shops offer and can do that his employer don't/can't [ICv2]

The strength is not that superheroes can be metaphors, it's that they don't have to be [Not The Beastmaster]

Why (to jump back to my Thanos rant) would you try to make a supervillain a metaphor for the death-drive implicit in autocratic conquerers when you could just have him try to fuck Death?

More ranting about how on God's green Earth could creators eagerly wait for The Call to slum-for-hire on corporate superheroes they don't own and can't change [Ninth Art]

Why are we putting the all-ages superhero icons of our youth into adult situations now? [Darwyn Cooke quoted at Fanboy Rampage vs. Mark Millar; via Franklin's Findings]
Why haven't adult comic book readers moved on to other genres? Or at least on to new created-for-adults superhero characters? It's not like we have cartoons of Mickey Mouse fucking Minnie nowadays.
Update: Interesting angle: This is the Reverence Brigade complaining about the mistreatment of beloved-from-youth fictional characters [Attentiondeficitdisorderly]

"Mr Pynchon, if you wanted to write about World War II, why not just write about it; why drag in a hypnotized octopus?" [The Intermittent]
And more fun responses to people who lament the inclusion of superheroes and fantasy elements into a story.

All manga looks the same [The Looney Bin via Franklin who responds]
Neilalien agrees with that assessment of manga, but he fully admits it's because he doesn't grok it, so he just keeps his mouth shut. He's disintegrated-via-orbital-laser enough losers who've said that all Ramones songs sound the same to know.

Powers moving to be a Marvel creator-owned? [Gutters]
Looks like Marvel is taking care of its golden-egg goose, Bendis. It would be interesting to see how much more Powers would be ordered now.

Looking at the magazine business' poor sales in 02003 is like reading the obituaries [ICv2]

Also like reading the obits: CrossGen imploding
VP of Publishing Bill Rosemann quits [Newsarama]
VP of Sales Chris Oarr quits [Newsarama]
'Poor taste' American Power book cancelled to appease new investors! [Pulse] [more at Ninth Art about this]
Updates: One week later: CrossGen has no sales staff [Newsarama]
CG drops out of Free Comic Book Day 02004, tightening the belts [Newsarama]

Thought-provoking item on 'panel rhythm' [Mercury Studios]
How panel size, number of panels on a page, panel content: camera angles, amount of detail- even panel border weight!- influence how (fast) a page is read.

Fade From Blue's Myatt Murphy sells Two Over Ten to Hollywood, rolls in dough, explains the concept behind the book [Newsarama]

I think we have this perception of the comic reader-as-collector being an awful thing. It's not an awful thing. That there aren't more people who are casual readers is an awful thing, but you don't shoot the guys who are reading the comics. You shouldn't bitch about the people who are already going in to the shops and paying their money. I wish people would get some perspective on that score. There's nothing wrong with being a fan.

Superheroes need to engage the real world more [Ninth Art]
Superheroes are capable of saying more than "enspandexed violence and escapism"- but not with uninterested creators, Hollywood-pleasing publishers and characters that cannot change.
Update: Contrast with Robert Kirkman's plans for his Captain America arc: "I'm doing a superhero book. This medium is all about escapism and I really don't want my run to be as horrifying as the six o'clock news. I'm bringing back the Serpent Society... I'm putting color into this book. I'm trying to have fun here. If you want a break from reality and a chance to relax... my Captain America arc offers that."

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